OpenROAD native-format exports files in a proprietary format that cannot be compared using a diff command, edited, or merged. XML output, however, is human readable, produces clean differences between different revisions of a file, allows changes to be merged, and enables OpenROAD source components to be managed by a variety of Software Configuration Management (SCM) systems.

OpenROAD developers who use only the OpenROAD IDE for application development can export applications and components to XML for synchronization with their SCM workspace.